Bronson is our hospital for orthopedic care.

Dona and Jan Volk, Patients

“Bronson is our hospital for orthopedic care.” – Don Volk

Starting 14 years ago, Don began to constantly feel pain in his right hip. After a year and a half of tolerating the discomfort, he underwent hip replacement surgery at a hospital in his hometown of Lansing. Although the surgery helped, Don didn’t feel his hip would ever be normal again. He still had hip pain but learned to live with it.

Years later, Don’s wife, Jan, had a bad elbow injury and was referred to Jeffrey King, MD, of Bronson HealthCare Midwest Hand & Elbow Specialists. That injury required Dr. King to perform joint replacement surgery on Jan’s left elbow. A few years later, Jan returned to Dr. King for surgeries to repair a ruptured elbow tendon and later to fix a broken bone in her arm from a fall.

After traveling all the way to Kalamazoo for these surgeries, Don and Jan realized the experience at Bronson was well worth the drive. It was at that same time, Don decided he needed to have a troublesome shoulder looked at, so he turned to Mark Sytsma, MD, of Bronson HealthCare Midwest Sports Medicine. After surgery, Don’s shoulder was feeling good, but he knew to get back to a fully active lifestyle, his hips needed some attention too. He didn’t hesitate to turn to Bronson again. Bernard Roehr, MD, of Bronson HealthCare Midwest Orthopedics & Joint Specialists replaced Don’s left hip and reconstructed his failed right hip, which had been replaced ten years earlier in Lansing.

Don was able to do most of his preparation for his surgeries at home in Lansing. His care team at Bronson was aware of the drive and did their best to make office visits and the scheduling of his surgeries as convenient as possible. Don had surgery on both hips within eight weeks of each other. “I am very satisfied with the treatment I received at Bronson,” says Don. “I would strongly recommend Bronson to anyone else and for any future surgeries for me or my wife.”

In addition to having successful orthopedic surgeries at Bronson, Don raves about the patient care and personal touch that he and his wife experienced from Bronson doctors, nurses and staff.

“Everyone was so considerate during my stay. What really sticks out is how considerate they were towards my wife,” says Don. Jan had recently broken her shoulder just before Don’s last surgery, but still wanted to be by his side during recovery. Don was amazed. “Whenever a nurse would bring me anything, they would bring something for Jan, too. They offered her ice for her shoulder and made sure someone always walked her to the car and helped carry her things.”

Now, Don is looking forward to returning to his construction job as he celebrates his 50th year with the company. He performs safety checks on construction sites which keeps him involved and satisfied. Don also runs a family farm and is excited to return to his daily chores and active lifestyle.

“I didn’t meet one person at Bronson that I would consider average, they were all A’s,” says Don.